Outline Business Case with PRINCE2
Outline Business Case – its creation and use.
The Business Case states why the work of a project is worth doing and is therefore vital in ensuring that the project cost, time, and risk are justified.
The outline Business Case will only contain a high-level view at this early point. However, this is sufficient to authorise the initiation stage, where the detailed business case will be created.
It is the project board executive who is responsible for drafting the outline business case, and the following information will need to be included:
A clarification of the objectives and hence the reasons for the project as defined in the project mandate.
A clear understanding of how the project will align and contribute towards corporate and/or programme management objectives and strategies.
The project funding will need to be understood and stated here. This might be a simple lump-sum statement or some form of crucial payment milestones considering the cash flow situation.
The lessons log needs to be reviewed to determine if there are any lessons related to business justification. There may also be organisational standards that must be followed concerning the format and presentation of the Business Case, such as the use of investment metrics and standard templates.
Outline Business Case – responsibilities.
The project board executive will want to check if there is any relevant background information such as contracts, service level agreements, feasibility reports and so on, in which case these should be included within the outline Business Case.
If required, the project board executive will want to seek approval of the outline business case from corporate or programme management.
Although the project board executive is responsible for the Business Case, it may well be that the project manager or representatives from an appropriate finance department create draft versions for the project board executive to agree on.
Meanwhile, the project manager will seek advice and guidance from the senior user and executive roles to define what the project is to deliver and create the product description.
The project product description contains the customer’s quality expectations and acceptance criteria, and the information must be gathered. Also, if there are any timescale requirements stated in the project mandate, these will have to be checked for their feasibility and included in the outline business case. Any key milestones need to be determined and also included.
The Daily Log must be reviewed, and any identified risks must be summarised in the outline business case. The objective is to provide sufficient business information for the project board to make an informed choice when authorising the initiation stage.
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